Teams start from what looks to be the Put Stop hotel in Bali in the following order:

1.

Dave & Connor

05:01

2.

Pam & Winnie

05:21

(+0:20)

3.

Max & Katie

05:25

(+0:24)

4.

Caroline & Jennifer

07:20

(+2:19)

5.

Joey & Meghan

09:06

(+4:05)

6.

Mona & Beth

09:12

(+4:11)

7.

Bates & Anthony

09:14

(+4:13)

8.

Chuck & Wynona

09:23

(+4:22)

Route info: Fly to Hanoi, Vietnam. Once teams land they must make their way to the Rap Cong Nhang Theater and Gallery 42, where they will find their next clue. Team also learn that there is a U-turn ahead.

We now learn that Dave has been in contact with doctors at home and they recommend surgery within a week. And even though they hate to do it they feel they must quit the race.

"We will fly to Hanoi and be eliminated", Dave

At the travel agency Dave & Connor let the other teams there, Pam & Winnie and Max & Katie know that they are quitting the race.

"No gamesmanship bs, right?", Max wants to be sure, but is fully of sympathy when they assure him it is true "With Dave & Connor gone. As much as we like them, our chances at staying in the front of the pack increased exponentially", Pam

There is a lot of talk about the upcoming U-turn. Most teams plan to U-turn Jessica & John alternatively Meghan & Joey or Mona & Beth.

"We do kind of have a target on our back you know, doing so well at the different detours and road block", Anthony fears the U-turn

In Hanoi teams rush to the gallery. The first teams arrive at 19:34, only to find that it closed at 18:00. It will reopen at 09:00 the next morning. Production has thoughtfully provided space in a bar at Hotel Des Artistes where teams can spend the night.

"We weren't going into the race with the intention of making new friends. But Max & Katie, they're actually really cool. And I feel bad now having said the things I said about them prior to knowing them", Pam & Winnie connect with Max & Katie

It is worth nothing that Dave & Connor were probably given real hotelrooms because they are nowhere to be seen.

"They where with us at the Singapore airport and they went to see a doctor, but they'll probably be here in the morning", Pam avoids mentioning that she knows Dave & Connor will quit

As teams from the second flight arrive at the hotel there is much catching up with what has happened. The first teams are shocked to learn that Jessica & John got eliminated, even though they still had an express pass. Meghan feel very constrained in the ensuing discussion because she feels that she can't defend John without putting an even bigger target on her back, and there is an U-turn coming up.

"I can't get over the fact that somebody got eliminated holding on to an express pass (chuckles)", Max is vocal in his opinions

The next morning starts with pictures from the Pit Stop at the Vietnam national museum of history. Where Dave & Connor meet Phil. It gets very emotional and tears are flowing, but they have to quite the race since Dave need immediate surgery.

"You should hold your head up and be very proud of how you ran this race", Phil to Dave & Connor

"I really am sorry son", Dave apologizes to his son "I'm not", but Connor doesn't see he has anything to apologize for

Meanwhile the other teams are quickly learning how chaotic traffic in Vietnam is as they make their way to the gallery.

"There's like 80 billion mopeds on the streets right now", Pam

Teams arrive early to the theater but have to wait until it opens at 9. The first five teams all agree who to U-turn:

"Roller moms and Joey & Meghan is the last of the little John & Jessica minions group", Winnie explains who to U-turn

When at last Joey & Meghan and Mona & Beth turn up the mood gets tense. They feel that they are a U-turn target.

When the gallery opens at 9 teams rush in to grab their next clue which lies under a painting. Teams grab the clue in the following order (within seconds of each other):

In this road block teams must watch a performance of a patriotic Vietnamese song. At the end dancers will reveal the words of a political slogan "Vinh quang thay thê hê thanh niên chúng ta" (Glory to our young generation). Contestants then have to find the quote on a political poster in a nearby room. The catch is that there are lots of posters and all have nearly the same quote, but only a few match exactly. If they don't find a correct poster within five minutes they have to watch the show again. Teams are also forbidden from making any notes.

"I'm afraid to run", Wynona doesn't want to do the road block

The show is very patriotic with lines like "Vietnam Communist Party is glorious" and "Socialism is growing more beautiful with time" and lots of red flags and a portrait of uncle Ho. It is all very much over the top but feels very much Vietnam.

"I'm an art director for commercials and films so I usually have a pretty good visual memory of things", Pam

At the second performance Beth suggest that she and Meghan help each other out by memorizing half the message each. Meghan then managed to find a correct poster, but before they could find one for Beth they had to go back to the next performance.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1.

Pam* & Winnie

(3-3)

After the first performance

2.

Chuck* & Wynona

(5-1)

After the second performance

3.

Caroline & Jennifer*

(3-3)

After the second performance

4.

Max & Katie*

(3-3)

After the second performance

5.

Joey & Meghan*

(3-3)

After the third performance

6.

Mona & Beth*

(3-3)

After the third performance

7.

Bates & Anthony*

(2-4)

After the third performance

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to CôngViên Thống Nhất andtake part in theMûa Sapa, theVietnamese BambooDance, to receive yournext clue.

The dance is relatively simple, locals are moving sticks of bamboo back and forth according to a rhythm. You only need to have some rhythm to jump straight through the whole course. One catch is that you must hold your partners hand.

In make your move teams must travel to the temple of literature and help set up a giant chess game. They must look at a small chess board, select a color and then place four staffs on the corresponding locations on the life sized chessboard. They must then find the correct (color and character) four human chess pieces and place them by the right staffs. Once you figure out what to do this task is pretty easy.

In make your meal teams must travel to Ngoc Song temple. Here they must pick up two empty baskets and two baskets with live chickens as well as a shopping list: 1Kg pho noodles 500g spring onions 500g bean sprouts 500g chili peppers 300g ginger 200g basil 10 bulbs garlic 12 limes 200g corianderThey must then buy the listed ingredients in the nearby market before making their way to the cooking stations. Here their ingredients will be weighed. Once they have the correct amounts they must make two bowls of Phô.

One tricky part of the soup side was that the shopping list was written in English. So teams had to find somebody who could translate to do the shopping.

"We're not always as crazy American", Winnie while she leads her chess pieces to the board

"We gotta get those things", Wynona wants them to take chickens as well "We don't need the chickens", but Chuck overrules her

"We have no idea what we are doing", Caroline struggles a lot at the chess task

"It was made with love, I hope you like it", Max presents their Phô to the judge

"We need 12 limes, and a husband who listens", Wynona is irritated that Chuck doesn't listen to her

"These are different people but they're asking for the same thing", (in Vietnamese) shop owner when Joey & Meghan comes to buy ingredients "It's funny the way he's carrying these chickens", (in Vietnamese) her assistant comments on Joey

Joey & Meghan visit the same shop as some other team and the owner gives them what they need. At least that is what he thinks, but most of the stuff turns out to be the wrong things or the wrong amounts.

Meghan is angry they were U-turned and think the other teams made a mistake when they U-turned them rather than the hockey-players, who she consider to be a stronger team. They decide to U-turn Chuck & Wynona to make sure they can stay in the race.

"Joey & Meghan U-turned us?", Wynona when she see the U-turn board

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to thenext Pit Stop: Thegrounds of The VietnamNational Museum ofHistory

Warning! The last teamto check in may beeliminated.

Phil is waiting at the the Vietnam national museum of history. The first team to reach him is Dave & Connor who apparently arrive before the gallery has even opened in the morning. But this doesn't really count since they are quitting. The remaining teams reach Phil in the following order: 1(+0) Pam & Winnie, win a trip to Whistler in Canada 2(+2) Max & Katie 3(+2) Mona & Beth 4(-1) Bates & Anthony, were surprised by the high placement which means they probably had taxi trouble 5(+1) Caroline & Jennifer 6(+0) Joey & Meghan 7(+0) Chuck & Wynona, are not eliminated since Dave & Connor have quit

The last pit stop was at the Vietnam national museum of history in Hanoi. According to the voice over teams start from here as well, but in reality they start outside the opera house (about 200m away). They depart in the following order:

1.

Pam & Winnie

22:40

2.

Max & Katie

23:34

(+0:54)

3.

Mona & Beth

23:37

(+0:57)

4.

Bates & Anthony

23:39

(+0:59)

5.

Caroline & Jennifer

23:46

(+1:06)

6.

Joey & Meghan

00:47

(+2:07)

7.

Chuck & Wynona

03:26

(+4:46)

The press pictures released before the episode show that teams had to go to the "Hair of the dog" bar in Hanoi to pick up their next clue. This task has been cut from the broadcast. Instead the first clue we hear is: "Make your way to the city of Maun in the Kalahari desert". Once teams touch down they must make their way to Mack air and sign up for one of three charter flights which will take them to the Makgadikgadi pans national park.

Teams must first go to a specific travel agency (Haprotravel) and buy tickets to Maun there. The catch is that there is a guard outside and they must tell him which country Maun lies in (Botswana) before he will let them in.

"Big hair big brain Katie", Max has a nickname for his partner "At this point I want to keep the fact that I am smart and have a doctorate secret", There's more to Katie than meets the eyes

"We know this is a race, but we love our friendships too. And I think Jen has a baby crush on Bates", Caroline on why they like to work with others

Teams enter the travel agency in the following order: 1(+0) Pam & Winnie, found Botswana on the internet in a hotel 2(+0) Max & Katie, used the same computer Pam & Winnie did 3(+2) Caroline & Jennifer, guessed Kenya but are told Botswana by Max & Katie who are inside 4(-1) Mona & Beth, lend a smartphone and look it up 5(-1) Bates & Anthony, guess Kenya but are told Botswana by Caroline 6(+0) Joey & Meghan 7(+0) Chuck & Wynona, guesses a lot but in the end Chuck calls somebody who gives him the answer (while Wynona make guesses based on the visas they have)

At the airport Joey & Meghan go and talk to Chuck & Wynona in order to explain why they U-turned them.

"What was the price that you stole from us?", Joey to Pam & Winnie, i.e. he knows they U-turned him "You guys are always like so fast, consider it a compliment that we U-turned you", Pam justifies the U-turn

In Maun there is a mad dash across the parking lot to Mack air where teams en up on the following flights to Xhumaga:

Flight #1 at 09:00 1. Caroline & Jennifer 2. Bates & Anthony

Flight #2 at 09:15 3. Max & Katie 4. Joey & Meghan

Flight #3 at 09:30 5. Mona & Beth 6. Chuck & Wynona 7. Pam & Winnie

The flights leave the next morning.

"The flight was actually really scary", Joey did not like the small airplane "This is where the Lion king was made, right here", Chuck, and we can't tell if he is serious "Now you guys know that was a cartoon, right?", Pam injects some sanity "And there is turbulence", Pam at takeoff, while Winnie looks rather uncomfortable

Teams must now go scorpion hunting with the local bushmen. They will first be led to a scorpion hole where they will be taught how to dig out this poisonous creature. The digging happens with a stick and with your bare hands. After the contestants have touched the scorpion the bushmen will place it in the jar and lead the team to their next clue.

As Caroline is on the way to the scorpion hunting grounds one of herguides spot something: "There's a lion over there", The bushman "Wow, you can climb", Caroline, surprised, when one of her bushmen suddenly levitates up a tree

"I'm petrified of scorpions", Joey is very nervous "I'm from Texas so I'm used to scorpions", Caroline, is more relaxed

"I have to touch it, I have to freaking touch it *sobs*", Joey calms himself on the way to the hunting grounds, or whatever

When the bushmen handle the scorpion they always start by grabbing its tail. But once that is done they are pretty casual. A number of them put the scorpion in their mouth, this apparently calms it down and makes it easier for the teams to handle it.

"I don't mind being pinched", Bates was pinched by the scorpion's claws "By the country singers", Anthony fills in

Max is the only one who had the presence of mind to bring a glove.

"With my hands? I'm only 21 year old, I don't wanna die", Joey is not comfortable digging for the scorpion "I hate bugs", Pam "I have never seen a scorpion live before. This is actually kind of cool. And I was petrified of scorpions like 10 minutes ago", Mona has a rather different reaction to the scorpion "My mouth was wide open, and then I thought I'd better close this mouth before the dude tries to stick it into my mouth too", Max's reaction to the bushman putting the scorpion in his mouth

"I have to touch that thing?", Joey is still petrified "I'm a scorpion king hunter", Afterwards in the car, Joey is a bit braver (and gets the title)

"I'm totally freaked out. It kind of looks like an alien", Pam is also very uncomfortable "Holy cow, that was probably one of the scariest thing's I've ever done", Pam got it done though

The task seems to take a little over 15 minutes to complete for the faster teams. Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Bates* & Anthony

(3-4)

2(+0)

Caroline* & Jennifer

(4-3)

3(+2)

Mona* & Beth

(3-3)

4(+0)

Max* & Katie

(4-3)

5(-2)

Joey* & Meghan

(4-3)

6(+1)

Pam* & Winnie

(4-3)

7(-1)

Chuck & Wynona*

(5-2)

Route info: "Take your three bushmen for a ride. Continue down old Xhumaga road and search for your next clue."

Since there is only one road nobody manages to get lost and people arrive at the next clue box in the order they left the road block.

Quote

DETOUR

Detour: 'Fire' or 'Fowl'

Fire: Light a pipe! Kindle a fireso you can light the BushmenElder's pipe. When the Elderhas taken a puff, he will handyou your next clue.

Fowl: Catch dinner! Constructand set a snare to catch aGuinea Fowl. Once the snareis set, test the trap intraditional Bushman fashion.If it works correctly you'llreceive your next clue.

Note: On your way to yourDetour choice, your Bushmenwill teach you a series ofanimal calls and signals thatyou must imitate.

The hard part of "Fire" is making the fire. Teams must start from scratch with wood, straw and zebra dung and then start a fire by rubbing the sticks together. This is very hard.

"My god they stink", Katie doesn't like the local smells

"When the bushmen built the fire it took them like 30 seconds. But it was really really tough", Mona find fire-making harder than it looks

"We knew that making fire from scratch is really hard. Because we watch a lot of TV, we're very well prepared", Winnie "This is like Sesame street on crack", Pam imitate the bushmen

The fire making is so hard that Bates & Anthony is the only team which succeeds. After a while the other teams working on their fires start thinking about switching detours. And when Caroline & Jennifer go from though to action and do switch the other quickly follows suit. All except Max & Katie who hang on a while longer before finally giving up and switching to fowl.

Building the snare is a lot easier. The only ones really stumbling were Max & Katie who had to rebuild their snare once.

Note: Two of yourBushmen will lead youback to the main path.Then, follow the markedpath to the Pit Stop.

Mona & Beth know they are second to last, but for some reason they got in their head that they should drive to the pit stop. They make their way back to where the cars are parked. Here they see that all the other cars are still present so they realize that they have to make their way on foot, and they start running down the path. The editing tries to make this look like a footrace with Max & Katie, but it feels like the moms have a pretty solid lead.

"Come on Beth. You've got three kids, you can run", Mona (but I'm not clear on the connection between having kids and running ability)

The last pit stop was at Meno a Kwena safari camp. Teams spent the night here and are released from the same place the next morning in the following order:

1.

Bates & Anthony

05:39

2.

Pam & Winnie

06:11

(+0:32)

3.

Chuck & Wynona

06:17

(+0:38)

4.

Joey & Meghan

06:23

(+0:44)

5.

Caroline & Jennifer

06:28

(+0:49)

6.

Mona & Beth

06:37

(+0:58)

7.

Max & Katie

06:49

(+1:10)

Teams must now drive themselves to Mokoro Poling station (in Boro village), where they will find their next clue. But before they can do that they must get to the cars. It is unclear if they are going to where they left them in the last episode or if teams have moved the cars during the pit stop. They are at least parked in the terrain quite a bit away from the starting line and some of the teams struggle to find them cars.

The drive to the next clue box is more than 140km long and takes well over three hours (according to Google). Part of the road requires 4-wheel drive. There are instructions taped to the steering wheels of the cars which tells teams when and how to switch between 4 and 2-wheel drive.

"I wasn't counting sheep, I was counting lions", Bates about the night in the safari camp "Our faith is the most important part of who we are", Jennifer is very religious "We've been underperforming so much", Max is not happy with their race so far

"The road is bad. You might get lost. You need to go with somebody else", A local gives Bates & Anthony directions and advice "It's tough with nobody in front of us to follow", Anthony does not feel confident in their navigational skills

"Alright honey, pedal to the metal but be safe and don't hit a cow", Wynona gets the title as she gives driving instructions to Chuck

"Instead of running around like an idiot, think about where you parked it", Katie to Max when they can't find their car (but she doesn't know either)

"What screw us up the most is directions", JoeyJoey & Meghan have a hard time finding the way to the poling station. According to Joeys recap they were lost for about 3 hours. They are very happy when they eventually catch up with Max & Katie and can follow them. "If you're not god at map reading then this isn't the leg for you", Joey "I hate driving to places", Meghan feels the same

That does not mean that other teams doesn't have their problems as well. Caroline & Jennifer are caught in a speed trap (going 96km/h on a 60km/h road). They try to sweet-talk their way out of it, but to no avail. "Go and explain that to my boss", the policeman with the radar gun does not want to listen to their argumentsThe boss at the speed trap is very nice, but firm. Teams do get fined and have to go to the police station in Maun and pay the fine of 820 pula (about $100). "Thank you very much, have a nice day", The smiling happy police officer says goodbye "Yeah, thanks a lot", But Caroline & Jennifer are not receptive to his charmsAt the police station they find that American dollars are not accepted, so they have to go and change money. For some unexplained reason the police won't let Caroline leave the station so Jennifer has to ask a random passerby if he can go and exchange money for them. "This is a big mistake", Jennifer has second thoughts the moment then man drives away with her money "I gave him $100 and I'm hoping he's gonna come back. I'm not quite sure", Jennifer has her doubtsBut her trust is well placed and after a while he comes back with the money. So after paying their fine and hugging their savior they are on their way again.

"What's the speed limit? Slow down, 60", Katie (from the back seat)Unfortunately her warning is not enough so Max get caught in the same speed trap as the girls (going 76km/h). "Can we just call this our speed bump and be done with it?", MaxThey also have to go to the police station, but seem to have changed money in advance. "That was like mayhem in there. It was not a good place to be", Max as he backs out from the Police station, straight into a poleFortunately for Max & Katie the car is only dented by the collision with the pole. They can continue on their way. "I'm not getting out to look at that", Max just wants this leg to be over

A bit later Max & Katie are relieved when Joey & Meghan turn up behind them. "If I get beat by them, then I should be heading home anyway", Max does not have high opinions about team YouTube

Bates & Anthony decide to go for the fast forward and follow the signsto the riverbank. Here they find another sign:

Quote

FAST FORWARD

Both of you muststay up on waterskistogether for overa mile to win thefast forward award!

And there is also a sign by the water which warns for crocodiles. "I don't know if I can get up", Bates do not know if he can do thisThey debate a bit but Anthony decide that his brother can do it and they agree to go for it. "Whats the crocodile situation", Bates asks the boat crew "Nothing. We checked last night. You're fine.", A crew member

"Getting up was rough. But once I got up I stayed in one position and didn't move a muscle", Bates "I can't believe I did it on the first shot", Bates "There's a big crocodile right around that bend", The boat driver point out the local wildlife (right after Bates & Anthony have been picked up)

The hockey players succeed with the water skiing task so they win the fast forward and are transported via taxi boat and safari vehicle directly to the pit stop at the Royal Tree Lodge.

"First time on the whole race we're stress free right now", Bates on his way to the pit stop

Max & Katie also find their speed bump here. They must finish a skirt and then take part in a ceremonial seduction dance. The dance mainly consists of wild booty shaking. "That was so fun", Katie seemed to enjoy herself

The other teams can go directly to the road block.

Quote

ROAD BLOCK

Who wants to go up acreek without a paddle?

In this road block teams must transport two baby goats up the creek in a Mokoro. This is a dug out canoe which a lucky contestant must pole up the creek to a nearby goat pen. Once the goats have been delivered they must poole back to where they picked up to canoe. The other team member must also travel in to canoe and can hold the goats.

Pooling the dugout turns out to be quite hard. It does not move in the direction players want and since there are crocodiles in the water they are being very careful. "The goat is peeing all over my leg", Pam get to hold the goats

"I have to go get two goats. I'm nervous as hell", Wynona is not comfortable "I put it in the boat, I figured it would just go on up there like a dog", Wynona was not expecting one of her goats to escape "Chuck, this is easy for you, it's not easy for me", Wynona quickly tires of the stream of instructions coming from her husband "I think I'll move to Venice and become a Gondolier", Winnie see the similarities "I feel like I'm living out my childhood on the Amazing Race", Caroline had an active youth "Jennifer & Caroline passed us as we were dropping off the goats, and we're not happy about it", Mona realize they suck at the dugout

"Why is this so difficult", JoeyJoey is having a hard time on the boat so by the time they finish Max & Katie are just a few minutes behind them. It is a tense race as both teams know they are the last two teams.

According to exit interviews the task took about 20 minutes to complete. Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Pam & Winnie*

(4-4)

2(+0)

Chuck & Wynona*

(5-3)

3(+1)

Caroline* & Jennifer

(5-3)

4(-1)

Mona & Beth*

(4-4)

5(+1)

Joey* & Meghan

(5-3)

6(-1)

Max* & Katie

(5-3)

Teams must now travel by Water Taxi down the river. They will then transfer to a safari vehicle which will take them to the Royal Tree Lodge Game Preserve where they'll find their next clue.

There is nothing teams can do to speed up or slow down the transportation to the game preserve so they all arrive in the same order they left Moro Village. At the game preserve they find their next clue in a pouch hanging from a tree.

Quote

DETOUR

Detour: 'Brains' or 'Brawn'

Brains: Go on a horsebacksafari and search for tendifferent species of"wildlife". Then, at the endof your safari choose tentiles with representations ofthe animals you saw andplace them in the order inwhich they appear on thesafari....

In brains teams are not allowed to write anything down. The track they have to ride is fairly long and takes about one hour to complete. The really tricky part of the task is the last animal cutout which shows a bird sitting on a hippo. The tiles at the end do not include a hippo, only the bird. The tiles do include a rhino, but that is a different animal which was not seen on the track.

"Honey, you look handsome in your hat up there", Wynona gives positive feedback "I don't sing like the country girls, but I'm singing", Wynona makes a song out of the animals they see

In brawn teams must stack firewood on a traditional sand sled. Then, using a carrot dangling from a stick, convince a team of four donkeys to haul it half a mile to a safari camp, where they must unload the sled. This task involves hard work (loading and unloading the sled) as well as the ability to get the donkeys to both start and stop.

The actual donkey pulling is surprisingly exciting to watch. First we have Mona & Beth leaving just after Caroline & Jennifer. Both teams do their best to get their donkeys to move quickly and when the country singers sled get caught in a tree they are overtaken by the derby moms.

"I'm telling you, it's these two fricking asses in the front", Pam & Winnie have donkeys who won't budge.After failing to get their donkeys to even move Pam & Winnie decide to switch detours. The ride is much more relaxing, but they miss one animal cutout. So they have to go back and do the course again. "We definitely did this much faster the second time around", Pam & WinnieThis time they do it much faster (probably around 40 minutes), but they still missed the ostrich. When they are rejected the second time they decide to go back to their donkeys.

Meanwhile Joey & Meghan and Max & Katie are frantically loading wood. Initially Max & Katie have the lead as the YouTube host's donkeys refuse to move. But when the latter finally get their donkeys to move they get them to move very quickly indeed. But just as they are about to pass Max & Katie their sled get caught in a tree.

When they reach the safari camp Joey & Meghan are right behind Max & Katie. "If Meghan & Joey beat us in this brawn task, we should go home like that's embarrassing", Katie think they should beat Meghan & Joey

Max & Katie may find it embarrassing, but there are in fact beaten by Joey & Meghan. Probably because the latter manage to stop their sled a little bit closer to where they need to unload their firewood.

The pit stop is very close to the end of the detours, and is easy to find. Joey & Meghan & Max & Katie are all convinced they are racing for last so Max & Katie do not look happy when they arrive at the mat just after Joey & Meghan. Phil plays a little with them before he tell them they are teams #5 & #6.

The last pit stop was by the river at the Royal Tree Lodge near Maun, Botswana. The episode claim teams are released from here, but the area looks more to be inside the city.

We are only shown Bates & Anthony starting at 05:55. The first clue tells them to fly to Zurich, Switzerland. Once in Zurich they must find a conductor (in the railway station at the airport) who will give them their next clue. Teams also seem to be told to go to a specific travel agency "TimeTravel".

Route info: "Travel by train to the town of Grindelwald". In Grindelwald teams must wait by the church for an alpine shepherd, who will deliver their next clue. All teams get ticket on the same trains. They leave Zurich at 15:40 and change trains in Bern and Interlaken for an arrival in Grindelwald at 18:39.

Joey & Meghan and Mona & Beth miss the connection in Bern, much to the enjoyment of the other teams.

"At least it's their ulcers not ours", Max is happy he didn't miss the train

It is snowing when teams arrive in Grindelwald. At the Church they find a small sign "The Shepherd will come by at 8:55am to give you your next clue". The next morning all teams are gathered by the church waiting for the shepherd. He arrives on a small two-skied sled and start handing out clues. Teams grab them in the following order: 1. Chuck & Wynona 2. Max & Katie 3. Bates & Anthony 4. Joey & Meghan 5. Mona & Beth 6. Caroline & Jennifer

Route info: "Travel by train to Kleine Scheidegg at the base of the Eiger in the Swiss alps. Pick up a Swiss rescue companion outside the historic Bellevue hotel".

Everybody runs down to the Grindelwald railway station 5 minutes away. Here they find that the next train for Kleine Scheidegg leaves at 09:47. So all teams make it. "It's alright, my feet are warm now", Beth is at least warm after the run to the station "Chuck's mad because I'm always 12 seconds behind everybody else, I'm last and I can't help it", Wynona is not happy "I'm just a disappointment to him, and I hate it", Wynona does not feel appreciated

The train ride up to Kleine Scheidegg is very scenic. "It's breathtaking", Beth is mesmerized by the mountains

Kliene Scheidegg is not a big place and the hotel kind of dominates it so it easy to locate the next route marker. The Swiss rescue companion turns out to be a St. Bernhardt dog, complete with a small keg hanging from its neck. Teams get their next clue from the handler of each dog in the following order: 1. Joey & Meghan 2. Max & Katie 3. Mona & Beth 4. Bates & Anthony 5. Chuck & Wynona 6. Caroline & Jennifer

Route info: "Travel by train to the Jungfraujoch and deliver your St. Bernhardt to the mountain rescue team". Teams must now continue up to the highest railway station of Europe (at 3454m). Here they must deliver their rescue dog to a mountain rescue guide outside the station. They must then make their way to the Sphinx observatory at the top of the mountain and search for their next clue.

This means another train ride and another equalization. The only extra factor here is that teams must handle a pretty big dog. The only ones having a problem with this is Caroline & Jennifer, whose dog refuses to board the train. Eventually Anthony comes to the rescue and help convince the dog to cooperate. "Come on, good boy or girl whatever you are", Caroline & Jennifer fail to motivate their dog to board the train

More than one team immediately get attached to the dogs and remember their loved canine friends at home. "He is treating the dog better than me", Wynona is depressed "The dog's gonna run faster", Chuck, hopefully he is joking "You'd better enjoy sleeping with the dog tonight", Wynona bites back

At Jungfraujoch teams hustle, as well as their abilities and the dogs will allow, through corridors blasted out of the bedrock. Eventually they get to a door and when it opens they see a wonderful landscape of ice, mountains and snow. There are some mountain guides out in the snow. "Pure whiteness and I saw heaven", Joey gets poetic

After delivering the dogs teams take the elevator up to the observatory. The next clue is handed out by a pair of locals on the observation deck. Teams find them in the following order: 1. Mona & Beth 2. Bates & Anthony 3. Max & Katie 4. Joey & Meghan 5. Caroline & Jennifer 6. Chuck & Wynona

Road block: "Who wants to enjoy the sights?". In this road block teams must travel by train down to the Eigerwand station (at 2865m). Here there are observation windows cut into the sheer rock wall of the Eiger. Contestants must exit one window and traverse the mountain to the next. Along the way they must pick up a Travelocity gnome who is hanging from the rock wall. The rock wall they must traverse is almost vertical but there are planks laid out past the worst passages so the actual traversing is not that difficult. The tricky factor is that the valley floor is thousands of feet below, so they must keep their nerves under control.

There are two traverse tracks set up so two teams at a time can do the task. The rest must wait in line for their turn by one of the starting windows.

"It's kinda high", Bates, can't avoid noticing the height "Not looking down yet, and not planning on it", Bates has a strategy "No last words, but this is fricking cool", Katie steps out of the window "Holy cow, this is absolutely frightening", Max looks out the window and is happy his wife is the one doing this

"In case things go wrong, I won't remarry for the first month", Chuck show some consideration

"It's kind of scary, but it's really easy. You can do it", Katie describes the task to Wynona "I'm not particularly afraid of heights, but I didn't look down because I just wasn't sure what I would see", Beth

Wynona is the only one having trouble. She is having a hard time moving the safety hooks past some of the anchors, probably because she is shorter than the other contestants.

Joey & Meghan got stuck behind Chuck & Wynona. They could probably have finished faster if they had gone for the other climbing station. But it is doubtful that they could have made the first train.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1.

Bates* & Anthony

(4-4)

2.

Max & Katie*

(5-4)

3.

Mona & Beth*

(4-5)

4.

Caroline & Jennifer*

(5-4)

5.

Chuck & Wynona*

(5-4)

6.

Joey & Meghan*

(5-4)

The next clue is on the bottom of the gnome.

Quote

travelocity

Travel by train to the Grindelwald Grund station.Once there, cross the Lütschine Brüggli bridge andfollow the sound of the Swiss Alphorn to your next clue.

Another train means yet another bunching point. But this time not all teams make the same train.

While they are waiting on the next train Chuck lets us know he is disappointed that Wynona took so long on the task. Wynona would rather hear some positive feedback than constant disapproval. "Good job. I'm glad you made it, the kids need a mother", When explicitly prompted Chuck gives positive feedback (but his heart is not in it)

Route info: "Follow the marked path and join the local workforce". Teams will now encounter a switchback. They must each use a traditional sled and transport two 50lb wheels of cheese down a steep slope. At the bottom they must lift the cheese into a barn.

"As soon as I read the clue about 200lb of cheese and sleds I go: Oh no, I remember this one, and it was hard", Katie has looked at earlier seasons

The first difficulty in this task is getting up the hill. Since this is winter the hill is covered in deep snow, and most contestants don't have shoes which are good for snow. Production has strung a rope along the steepest part, but it is still very hard. "This hill isn't a hill, it's like a mountain", Bates & Anthony "The cold wasn't the problem. The problem was getting up that hill wearing racing slicks", Max

Since there is only one rope lots of teams get stuck behind Max & Katie who are having problems. The only ones who managed to get up before them were Bates & Anthony.

"Going up the hill, I was literally crawling on my knees", Wynona "I can't do both these sleds and your ass", Chuck can't help her as well

Eventually Chuck has to help Wynona up anyway. He is on all fours, holding their sleds in his hands and pushing Wynona's rear quarters with the top of his head.

The best technique for getting the cheese down seemed to be to load it on the led and then let the sled push yourself down. It is hilarious to see them teams try to get down the hill with any semblance of dignity. "My cheese fell off every five steps", Jennifer "I'd say Jen was my damsel today", Caroline had to help Jennifer a lot "My cheese is out of control", Jennifer gets the title as her cheese falls off the sled for the umpteenth time

The only team doing it differently is Chuck & Wynona who start out the normal way but then change to rolling their cheese. "I though it was a little bit easier to roll the cheese", Wynona

Once at the bottom teams get winded when they have to lift their cheese into the barn. Teams complete this task in the following order: 1(+0) Bates & Anthony 2(+1) Max & Katie 3(-1) Mona & Beth, a minute or so after #2 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer 5(+0) Joey & Meghan 6(+0) Chuck & Wynona

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to thenext Pit Stop:

The Bodmi Snowboardand Ski School.

Warning! The last teamto check in may beeliminated.

"Let's go for a puke", Max is totally spent after lifting the cheese into the barn "It's really hard, and I'm not even lying", Katie meet team YouTube as she sprints in search for taxis

The best way to get to the pit stop seems to be to run into town and take a taxi from there. "Perfect time for a cow crossing. Are you serious?", Max when their taxi encounters a bovine road block

Joey & Meghan did not find a taxi. Instead they ran and walked the whole way. The distance was approximately 3 miles. "We ran and walked this whole way. We should've taken a taxi", Meghan is tired as they near the pit stop

"We're in last because of me. Because I wasn't quick enough", Meghan is in tears as they arrive last to the pit stop "It's not your fault", Joey is not upset at her "It's definitely a sad moment coming in last, but I've had a blast", Joey,hasn't learned about Chuck & Wynona's penalty yet

Chuck & Wynona are given a 30 minute penalty since they did not use the approved method, the sled, of transporting the cheese. Instead they rolled theirs. This penalty allows Joey & Meghan to reach the pit stop. So Chuck & Wynona go from being miraculously saved to coming bitterly last.

"Tough way to go out", Phil to Chuck & Wynona "As far as the race goes, it didn't tear us apart, I mean we've got a lot of life and a lot of history behind us", Chuck

The last pit stop was at the Bodmi ski school in Grindelwald, Switzerland. In this episode teams seem to be released in Interlaken (which is the closest bigger city). They are released in the following order:

1.

Bates & Anthony

02:50

2.

Mona & Beth

02:57

(+0:07)

3.

Max & Katie

03:01

(+0:11)

4.

Caroline & Jennifer

03:28

(+0:38)

?.

Joey & Meghan

not shown

(+?)

Route info: "Make your way to the city of Dresden in Germany". Once teams arrive they must make their way to the ministry of finance where they will find waiting cars and their next clue.

"We're right behind Bates & Anthony, who are like supermen", Mona fears the hockey players "They are our race boyfriends", Jennifer about the hockey players

Everybody falls asleep on the train. Bates & Anthony put their bags on the sets right across from themselves, and when Bates wakes up a little bit later his bag (which was by the aisle) is gone. "I've got my passport and that's all I really need", Bates is not too worried "I'm sorry Bates. Do you need anything? Do you want some thongs? Womens underwear?", Jennifer offers to lend some of her clothes

At the Dresden airport there is the usual mad dash to the taxis. Teamsarrive at the cars by the ministry of finance in the following order: 1. Max & Katie 2. Joey & Meghan 3. Caroline & Jennifer, a few seconds after #2 4. Bates & Anthony 5. Mona & Beth, a couple of seconds after #4

The next clue can be found on the windshield of the car. It is a route info: "Answer three questions about your next destination". Teams must enter their cars and use the in-car computer to answer three questions. The questions arrive one by one via text messages and there are pre-defined text messages with the response alternatives. The questions are: Q1: Which US president said "Tear down this wall"? Q2: Which world leader did president Reagan direct it to? Q3: Where did president Reagan say it?

The correct responses are: Q1-1, Q2-6, Q3-7. When teams have answered all questions correctly they get an SMS: "Congratulations, now drive to the Brandenburger gate to find your next clue".

"The second we got there and saw all the cars I got a little rush of confidence. We don't need to be in the pack. Today we're going after it", Max wants to lead "Was it Roosevelt?", Meghan hasn't found the response alternatives "Was that the great wall of China?", Caroline is stumped

"Bates & Anthony are here. Should we wait?", Jennifer "No, just go", Caroline realize that they need to focus on themselves

"Hopefully we can do well today and come in first and win two Ford Fusions", Katie has noted certain patterns in earlier seasons "A stands for 'Aaargh these people are driving really fast'", Beth is not used to driving on the Autobahn

"I lost the boys", Jennifer tried to follow Bates & Anthony while driving through Berlin

Route info: "Make your way to the roof of the Park Inn hotel in Alexanderplats for your next clue". At the Park Inn roof teams find out that they have to base-fly. Contestants are strapped into a harness and then lowered face first by a wire, at close to free-fall speed, 37 stories back to the ground. Both team members must perform this. One nice touch is that the landing mat has a big picture of a clue box on it.

This task is scary, but there is no skill involved. And this late in the game only the determined teams are left so nobody hesitates.

"Oh my god, what are we doing", Katie is not comfortable "This is worse than Bungee-jumping". Jennifer

Train Trials: At the DeutschesTechnikmuseum try out traintracks so that they are allconnected in a circuit. Then,place a model train on thetracks. If the train makes it'sway around the circuit withoutderailing, the Conductor willhand you your next clue.

Font Follies: Make your way onfoot through the streets of EastBerlin to Wasserturm AmPretzlauer Berg and pick uptwo illuminated billboard lettersfrom a market stand. Thendeliver the letters, on foot, to theattached address to receiveyour next clue

The train trials takes place in the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin (5.8km 0:11).

In font follies teams must first travel 1.7km on foot to pick up the letters. They must then transport them on foot to the Museum of Letters (1.8km) which is very close to the Park Inn. The letters are blinking and obviously battery powered since they keep blinking while teams carry them. If teams drop and break a letter they must go back and pick up a new one.

Bates & Anthony run into the girls and decide to do font together with them. Caroline is not entirely happy with this because she realizes that they will not have a chance against Bates & Anthony in a foot race.

"I made a poor decision on this", Caroline realize she picked a hard to carry letter "This is really frustrating", Joey when their train derails again

Teams carrying the letters must stop every now and then to ask for directions. During one such stop Anthony's letter 'v' falls over and breaks. "We were pretty sure we're the last two teams and now we have to start from scratch", BatesBates & Anthony decide to switch detours and jump into a taxi. "Busted letter, busted spirit. We could be in serious trouble", Bates thinks they are last

"This place, it was like a trippy end of the communist era shady little place", Max found the saloon a suspect place

Mona & Beth have major issues navigating to the salon. "This city layout is way to fricking crazy", Mona as trouble reading the map

And Bates & Anthony are dead last, and they know it. "I can't see us coming back from this one", Anthony think they are dead last after the detour "We need a miracle again", Bates

But the miracle is coming in the form of the roller derby moms navigational issues. "I think we should go to the Hostel. They're used to helping idiots", Beth decides to ask for help "I felt like at one point I was gonna start to cry. But it never occurred to us to quit", Beth never considered giving up

In this road block teams must first figure out that JF Kennedy famously stated that he was a jelly donut. They must then search a theatrical labyrinth and find the white room This is where their next clue awaits.

The maze is very psychedelic with lots of weird exhibits and designs. There are ladders to climb and doors to find. It is of course very dark.

"The honeymoon continues, here at the underground German speakeasy", Max is not entirely comfortable "Oh my god, this is freaky", Katie upon entering the maze "I walk in and it is pitch black. And I'm thinking to myself somebody's gonna jump out and they're gonna get hurt because I just gonna punch them", Katie goes into survival mode "It was a nightmare", Katie "Oh my gosh, this is soo cool", Joey enters the maze "So many doors leading everywhere", after a while Joey starts getting frustrated "It was the ultimate fun house", Joey gets the title after completing the road block

"It was probably what it is like to do drugs", Jennifer

Anthony catches up with Beth in the maze, and they decide to work together.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Max & Katie*

(5-5)

2(+0)

Joey* & Meghan

(6-4)

3(+0)

Caroline & Jennifer*

(5-5)

4(+1)

Bates & Anthony*

(4-5)

5(-1)

Mona & Beth*

(4-6)

A second after #4

The next route info tells teams to make their way to the Kurfürstendamm and find the next pit stop.

"Should we just follow them and beat them in a race?", Anthony wants to follow Mona & Beth

The boys decide to just follow Mona & Beth in their car. "If we get there at the same time, we will definitely beat them in a race", Anthony has a strategy "The boys are hot on our tails", Beth realize what their plan is

As they reach Kurfürstendamm both teams hustle out of their cars and run for Phil. But it is no contest, the boys are faster out of their car and reach Phil a couple of seconds before the moms.

The greeter in this episode is a hot dog salesman who has his entire kitchen strapped to his body, including an umbrella. Teams reach the pit stop in the following order: 1(+0) Max & Katie, around 20:03, win one car each 2(+0) Joey & Meghan, around 20:53 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer 4(+0) Bates & Anthony, around 22:20 5(+0) Mona & Beth, are saved by a non-elimination

"I think we did pretty good for a couple of moms", Beth "You guys make us nervous, that's for sure", Anthony has respect for the moms

Teams are released from hotel InterContinental in Berlin in the following order:

1.

Max & Katie

02:02

2.

Joey & Meghan

02:49

(+0:47)

3.

Caroline & Jennifer

03:44

(+1:42)

4.

Bates & Anthony

04:20

(+2:18)

5.

Mona & Beth

04:21

(+2:19)

Route info: "Fly to the city of Edinburgh, Scotland". As teams land they must pick up a sponsor car from the airport and drive themselves to Gosford house where they'll get their next clue. The clue also warns that there is an U-turn ahead.

Joey & Meghan are worried about the U-turn. They know that Bates & Anthony, Max & Katie and Caroline & Jennifer have an alliance. And it sucked getting U-turned the last time. So they vow to do their best to stay ahead.

Max & Katie go directly to the hotel business center and book flights on the web. They find a flight which arrives at 10:40. All the other teams make their way to the airport where they are patiently standing in line by the Lufthansa desk as it opens at 05:00.

"We're thinking that everybody is in line wanting to get in at 1'o clock", Max keeps quiet about their flight when he see where teams are lining up "We're going to wait in line like sheep over there and act like sheep", Max pretends to follow the other teams

Joey & Meghan are first in line, and Mona & Beth go to the 1st class counter and those two teams are the only ones getting tickets with arrival at 13:00. The other teams get told that the flight is full and get tickets with arrival at 16:00.

Joey & Meghan and Mona & Beth are very excited when they learn that they will have a three hour lead. "Think of what we can do", Joey can't contain his excitement

Meanwhile Caroline & Jennifer and Bates & Anthony hunt around for other flights. And both teams stumble upon Brussels airlines which have a flight with arrival at 10:40. When they board they are surprised to see Max & Katie on the same flight. "Are you joking, the sexy six are together forever", Caroline upon meeting Max & Katie on the flight

When teams land they all run to the cars. Everybody counts the number of cars so they know their position. "I feel good, basically we're in first", Meghan hasn't reached the cars yet "There's only two cars here!", Mona is unpleasantly surprised

In the car Bates explains that the first three teams have agreed to U-turn the last two teams so they can battle it out. Meanwhile Caroline is having problem with her car, it just won't accelerate. "Is there a brake on?", Eventually Caroline find the problem

At Gosford house (27km 0:30) the clue box is at the foot of the grand staircase leading up to the entrance. And on the stairs is the Royal Scots bagpipers arrayed. This makes for a very impressive entrance.

Teams reach the clue box here in the following order: 1(+0) Max & Katie 2(+0) Bates & Anthony, about a minute after #1 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, a few minutes after #2 4(+0) Mona & Beth 5(+0) Joey & Meghan, a minuter or so after #4

Quote

ROAD BLOCK

Who has the deep lungsand strong legs of aRoyal Scot?

Note: Mona and Meghanmust perform this RoadBlock.

Contestants must dress like the Royal Scots, including a kilt, and learn how to play the bagpipes. They must then hold a single harmonizing note for two minutes as they march around the marble room of Gosford house.

"I'm hal'f Scottish, so hopefully this will work out for me", Bates feels he is natural for this "I'm getting used to the whole skirt thing. What I wore under the Kilt will forever remain a secret", Max

"The more practice I made the more time i was wasting. Just learn by fire and go for it", Max

"She's a singer, she knows how to blow", Jennifer about Caroline "I'm so sorry, but my mouth isn't working now", Caroline after her 6th attempt

"I have found my husband in Scotland. His name is Jim, I think he's 70. If he hadn't been there along with my best friend Jen I don't know if I would have made it through the day", Caroline had a hard time

"I can totally do this. This is easy", Meghan is sure of herself going into this task "It takes a lot of hot air, which she has", Beth thinks Mona is uniquely suited to playing bagpipes "It sounded like they were torturing an animal", Beth about Mona's bagpipe playing

"I'm not meant to be a bagpiper", Meghan struggles after Mona has left

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Max* & Katie

(6-5)

On his 1st shown attempt

2(+0)

Bates* & Anthony

(5-5)

On his 1st shown attempt

3(+0)

Caroline* & Jennifer

(6-5)

On her 7th attempt

4(+0)

Mona* & Beth

(5-6)

On her 2nd shown attempt

5(+0)

Joey & Meghan*

(6-5)

On her 1st shown attempt

Meghan struggled a lot with the training before her instructor allowed her to try the real challenge, so they are about 30 minutes after Mona & Beth as they leave.

As teams enter the castle they pass the speed bump sign. That is all teams but Mona & Beth who have to open it. They learn that the speed bumps means that they have to play Skittles. This takes place in the cellar of the Sheep Heid Inn in Duddingston village (2.6km 0:04). Skittles is a Scottish variant of 10-pin bowling where the ball has no holes. They must take turns to roll the ball until one of them scores a floor (a strike). Since this place is very old there is no mechanics, so after each throw they must run down to the end of the lane and manually reset the pins. "Sucks to be you", Max when he passes the speed bump sign

This task is rather hard, but on the 16th try Beth finally scores a strike and they can go back to the castle and search for clues in the fireplaces.

The clues are placed in the chimneys so teams have to enter the, rather large, fireplaces to search. They are also spread out so no two clues are in the same place. Teams find clues and leave the castle in the same order they arrived.

Quote

DETOUR

Detour: Tasty Puddin' orWhisky Rollin'

Tasty Puddin': At the SheepHeid Inn Pub in DuddingstonVillage, perform the finalpreparation of the Scottishnational dish, Haggis. Onceeach of you have prepared fourportions of Haggis and enjoyeda bit of this tasty treat, you'llreceive your next clue.

Max assumes that Bates & Anthony are doing the barrel rolling so he and Katie goes for pudding to separate themselves from them.

Bates & Anthony find the rolling hard so they carry their barrels on their back. This is very heavy, even though the barrels seem to be empty. It is also allowed since the additional info just stated that they must transport the barrels by their own power without any help. "How is anybody else gonna do this challenge?", Anthony

"They're having great old time dancing around while we are working our barrels off", Bates gets the title "The meat smelled good. But the stomach, I could smell that sheep's last meal", Max "I feel like the Greek god holding up the world", Bates about carrying Whisky barrels

As teams make their Haggis an actor dressed as Robert Burns, an 18th century Scottish poet, steps in. He starts to recite "Address to a Haggis" in a wonderful Scottish accent. This adds loads of local color to the scene which, due to the pub setting, already had lots of it.

Mona & Beth start their Haggis making at 16:55. Mona & Beth and Joey & Meghan know they are fighting for last as they enter the pub more or less together.

"I still don't know what Haggis is, and I don't want to know", Joey "You lasses look like you've done this before", The poet to Mona & Beth "They're moms, they cook. I know how to cook chicken", Joey thinks Mona & Beth have an unfair advantage "Aw, real good", Beth to the judge as they taste "Sorry Scotland, it was awful", Beth in an interview later

Mona & Beth seem to just kill this detour and leave well before Joey & Meghan. Both teams know that the U-turn may determine this race. So even though they are last at the detour Joey & Meghan have a samll hope that the moms have been U-turned and they have not. Unfortunately that hope is crushed on the cold hard stones of reality as they reach the church and see that both the last two teams have been U-turned.

"This is brutal", Beth about the Whisky barrels "Don't let 'em see us", The moms try to roll their barrels stealthily past the pub "Oh, they got U-turned. The moms got U-turned", But Joey see them and gets some hope "I smell like Haggis and sweat", Beth

Unfortunately for Joey & Meghan, Mona & Beth are faster. The moms are delivering their 3rd and 4th barrel as team Youtube starts. And when the moms are done Youtube have only delivered three barrels.

Teams must now drive to Edinburgh and find the designated parking space before making their way on foot to the pit stop. "Now I'm all fricking turned around", Bates have trouble navigating in Edinburgh. "Parking area is probably on your right hand side", Katie is however spot on "I think we should follow them ,beat them at a race", Anthony see Max & Katie run away from the parking area as he pulls in

"And Haggis", Max jumps onto the mat

The editors tries their best to make it look like a tense race between Mona & Beth and Joey & Meghan. Therefore we get to see lots of shots of the moms having trouble navigating while Joey & Meghan just seem to get there straight away.

Teams are released from some street in Edinburgh in the following order:

1.

Max & Katie

16:07

4.

Bates & Anthony

16:15

(+0:08)

3.

Caroline & Jennifer

17:27

(+1:20)

5.

Mona & Beth

19:27

(+3:20)

Route info: "Travel to the capitol of northern Ireland, Belfast". To get there teams must first take the train to Stanraer (via Glasgow). From here they take a ferry to Belfast. Once in Belfast they must pick up a sponsor car from a harbor warehouse (All-route shipping) and drive themselves to Peatlands Park.

"We definitely think the roller moms have to go, I think they are one of our strongest competitors", Anthony "I really think we got this far because Jen and I have so much positive energy", Caroline "We are close friends, but our whole relationship is centered around competition", Mona thinks this gives them and edge

The first 3 teams probably arrived at the ferry terminal i Stanraer around 21:00, and learn that the next ferry is at 07:30 in the morning. This gives the roller derby moms plenty of time to catch up (they probably arrive around midnight).

The ferry reaches Belfast at 09:45. While on the ferry all teams get directions to Peatlands park.

"We're just trying to get as much information as we can on Belfast", Max on the boat

Once in Belfast all teams run for the warehouse where their cars are. They reach it a few seconds apart, enter their cars and drive out in the following order: 1. Mona & Beth 2. Max & Katie 3. Bates & Anthony 4. Caroline & Jennifer

"You're a navigating machine Katie", Max appreciates the good directions he is given

Teams drive more or less together on the freeway, but once off it they are separated as they all search for the Peatlands Park. "Max & Katie and the hockey players are going to the right, and rollergirls and us are going to the left", Jennifer "Darn, darn, darn, darn", Mona when she finds out they went the wrong way

The clues at Peatlands Park lie in a basket marked with a raceflag. Teams reach it in the following order: 1(+2) Bates & Anthony 2(+0) Max & Katie, a second after #1 3(-2) Mona & Beth, probably 2-3 minutes after #1 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer

Road block: "Who wants to get bogged down?". In this road block contestants must snorkel in the murky waters of the bog. There is a small train which will take them out into the bogs where they will be equipped with a wet suit, mask, snorkel and flippers. They must then cannonball into a pit of mud, climb up and then swim 100 yards in a muddy ditch (50 yards out and 50 yards back). All in under 4 minutes.

This "sport" was of course conceived over a few pints of beer.

A rule on this race is that nobody may perform more than 6 road blocks before the finale. This means that Bates & Anthony is the only team who may choose who will do this task, this since they skipped one task in Botswana thanks to the fast forward.

The task is a lot harder than it sounds. Just putting on the wet suit is a challenge in itself. Then, since this is early December, the temperature is a bit on the chilly side. In fact there are remnants of an ice sheet at the edge of the ditch they swim in. The mud clogs the snorkel and the mask fogs up almost immediately so visibility is close to zero.

"I'm going snorkeling in freezing cold water", Katie is not looking forward to the task

"What is Bog snorkeling, do you have any idea?", Mona wonder what the task will be while they wait for the train with Caroline & Jennifer "They're not gonna make us get into the water, right?", Jennifer is a little worried

"Two things that I hate are being cold and in dirty water", Mona is also not looking forward to this "I was lucky I made it since there was no chance I was going to do that again", Katie did not enjoy this experience "I don't know that I've ever been that scared, I felt a lot of pressure", Mona is anxious before starting the task

Poor Jennifer is having a hard time. She forgot to turn back at the platform at the end of the ditch, instead she climb over it and jump into the ditch on the other side. It takes a while for her to get her bearings and free herself of the mud to go back. This makes her fail the time limit so she has to start all over again.

"Jen did a great job, but Jen can not really swim", Caroline "I can't do it again", Jennifer is mentally and physically exhausted after her failed attempt

On her second go Jennifer gives up before she has even completed half of the swimming. "I can't breathe", Jennifer

It takes quite some persuasion from Caroline to get Jennifer to make another attempt. On which she completes the course before the time runs out.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Bates & Anthony*

(5-6)

Time: 02:18

2(+0)

Max & Katie*

(6-6)

Time: 03:09

3(+0)

Mona* & Beth

(6-6)

Time: 02:53

4(+0)

Caroline & Jennifer*

(6-6)

Time: 03:43, on her 3rd attempt

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Drive back to Belfast andfind 'The Thing With ARing'.

The thing with a ring is a big steel statue also known as 'Beacon of hope' and it is fairly well known. Mona & Beth catch up with Max & Katie in the parking lot as the latter are getting directions. The moms decide to just follow Max & Katie to the next route marker. "I hate being followed", Max

The only team having a hard time finding this route marker is Caroline & Jennifer they get directions to the Giant's ring which lies 5km south of Belfast. But eventually they get good directions.

Tray It: Become fine-diningservers! Make your way to thedry dock where the Titanicwas build over 100 years ago.Once there, deliver fivecourses from the last dinnerserved to the Titanic's firstclass passengers. When allfive courses have beenserved correctly, and in theproper order, the Captain willhand you your next clue.

Spray It: Become graffiti...

At the Titanic dock teams encounter a tent with a menu on a poster outside. The menu is:

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R.M.S. "TITANIC" April 14, 1912

The First-Class Menu PRIVATE

First Course ~ Hors d'oevres Oysters à la Russe

Second Course ~ SoupCream of Barley finished with Whiskey and Cream orConsommé Olga with Scallops and Celery Julienne

Third Course ~ Roast Roasted Squab and Watercress served with a Madeira Jus

This is half the actual first class menu served as the last meal on the Titanic.

Below the menu is a bunch of seating charts, one for each table. These lists the names of the passengers at the table as well as their choices for the soup and the dessert. This throws a number of teams who immediately start to serve what is on the seating chart and bypassing the other courses. Another difficulty is that there are lots of different courses on the tables in the kitchen tent, and none of them are labeled so teams must identify the correct course by looking at them.

The hardest course to identify is the peaches with Chartreuse Jelly. The chefs have prepared to different dishes with peaches and jelly. One with red jelly and one with green. Chartreuse is a kind of green color, something which only Mona & Beth seem to know.

Teams divide the job so that one team member prepares the tray in the kitchen tent and carries to the top of the stairs. The other member picks it up here, walks down all the stairs to the bottom of the dock and then over to the dining tent set up in the middle of the dock where the tables are set up. It means quite a lot of running/walking for the teams.

Max & Katie is the first team to arrive and prepare a tray with the different soups. But before they leave Katie realizes that something must be wrong. She looks around and find the menu poster and realize they must server oysters first.

Bates & Anthony also figure out the menu pretty quick, but they do one wrong run with the soups first. Mona & Beth make many attempts before they finally figure out what they are doing wrong.

"This is not what these people ordered", The waiter gets to say this a lot to Beth "I used to be a waitress so you'd think I'd be better at this", Beth apologizes for he bad serving skills (and she still is still serving the wrong course) "If I don't win this challenge I hope I get tipped well", Bates hopes to get something out of the serving "I think what is going on is that we're just intermixing our dishes", Mona thinks she knows what they do wrong, but in reality they aren't reading the menu "He's just having a meltdown right now, and there is no calming him down unless I get it right", Anthony feels the pressure "I'm gonna kill him", Bates gets frustrated when his next serving is also rejected (he had red jelly)

As Anthony is waiting to see if Bates is going to kill him or not (i.e. checking if the desserts are correct) he chats with Beth and happens to mention the list of courses. Luckily for him the desserts were right so they get their next clue. This leaves Mona & Beth alone trying to figure out which the first course they should serve is.

"I'm so tired", Beth is rejected for the 10th time "Anthony said something about a list", Beth shouts to Mona "Bettie, I figured it out", Mona finally see the big menu

And this time the courses served are correct. And Beth gets an applause from the dining guests when she has served it. From this point on it is plain sailing for the moms. "We are probably in trouble, but all we can do is try to finish this challenge and get our next clue", Mona is not giving up

In spray it teams must complete a graffiti painting. They must drive to the T13 skate hall. Here they are given an almost blank door where they should spray paint one half of a given Graffiti painting from a given photograph. There is a simple outline on the door which helps with scaling and placement. Once they are done the other half of the painting is revealed and we get to see how well their half matches. All of this takes time. But Caroline & Jennifer, who is the only team doing this, feel like they are flying through it.

Once Caroline & Jennifer say they are done the artist closes the other door so we get to see the entire painting. He then points out some things which the girls need to improve on their half. They do this quickly and are then given their next clue.

Route info: "Make your way to the next Pit Stop, Ulster Hall". Here Phil waits together with a bunch of young Riverdance girls.

Max & Katie find parking and are making their way on foot towards the hall as Bates & Anthony drive by. The brothers are convinced they can catch Max & Katie, they just have to find a parking spot first. Max & Katie in turn see that the hockey brothers drive by and realize they must hustle. They make it look like the start of a 100 meter event when they take off. Luckily for them they manage to keep ahead of the brothers so they reach Phil first.

The editors cut the episode so it looks like there is a tense race between the last two teams. But the feeling I get is that the country singers are way behind.

Teams check in in the following order: 1(+0) Max & Katie, win a trip to the Dominican republic 2(+0) Bates & Anthony, less than a minuter after #1 3(+0) Mona & Beth 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, around 17:45, are eliminated

"You are joking?", Mona can't believe it when Phil tells them they are 3rd "People are just so good, all around the world", Jennifer has learned something

I have not had the opportunity to provide you with some corrections for the Belfast episode directly, but at the Bog Swim ROADBLOCK Jennifer actually failed a second time before taking a long additional time to make her successful 3rd try.

From the Extra Videos, Mona and Beth actually tried Spray It before switching to Tray It.

I have not had the opportunity to provide you with some corrections for the Belfast episode directly, but at the Bog Swim ROADBLOCK Jennifer actually failed a second time before taking a long additional time to make her successful 3rd try.

That's already in the report:

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On her second go Jennifer gives up before she has even completed half of the swimming.

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From the Extra Videos, Mona and Beth actually tried Spray It before switching to Tray It.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see those, and now they are marked private.

/MaF

PS Sorry for the delay in posting the last reports. Life has been busy lately.

The last pit stop was in Ulster Hall, Belfast. And this is also where teams are released the next morning in the following order:

1.

Max & Katie

05:04

2.

Bates & Anthony

05:05

(+0:01)

3.

Mona & Beth

05:47

(+0:43)

Route info: "Make your way to the final destination. To find our where it ts, travel by ferry across the Irish sea to Liverpool". Once in Liverpool teams must take a train to London and find the Euston Tap bar and order a pint to receive their next clue.

Teams jump into taxis and make their way to the ferry terminal. Here they find that the first ferry departs at 10:30, which means all teams make it. The ferry ride takes 8 hours so they arrive in Liverpool at 18:30. The ferry ride is a nice break from the normal hustle of the race. Everybody is friendly since there isn't anything they can do to get there faster.

"Everybody is very friendly right now, but when we get off this ferry we know it's going to be another foot race from then on out", Beth "It's like the calm before the storm", Max

In Liverpool teams probably try to catch the 18:48 train to London Euston which arrives at 21:02. Two teams make it. Bates & Anthony seem to miss it and probably took the next train 19:48 with arrival 22:09.

In London teams reach the Euston Tap bar in the following order: 1. Mona & Beth 2. Max & Katie, a second later 3. Bates & Anthony, about an hour later

Route info: "Fly to your final destination, our nations capitol Washington D.C.". Once teams land they must make their way to where Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I have a dream..." speech. They have to figure out by themselves that this is on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Nobody seems to have any problems with this.

"Shall we go and finish our beer?", Max after having read the clue "No", But Katie wants to keep racing full speed

The flight to Washington is pre-determined, as it has been in all recent seasons. The flight is probably: UA923 LHR-IAD Dec-7 07:30-10:42

At the airport teams make their way to the marked ticket counter and wait for it to open. This means a night at the airport since the first team arrives at 23:30 and the counter opens at 05:15.

When tams arrive at Dulles they jump into taxis and make their way forthe Lincoln memorial. They reach it in the following order: 1. Max & Katie 2. Mona & Beth, less than a minute after #1 3. Bates & Anthony, less than a minute after #2

As teams stand on the marked spot a man steps forward and explains what the spot means before he hands them their next clue.

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ROUTE INFO

Make your way to 1100Pennsylvania Avenue.Once there, a SecretService agent will escortyou to have your picturetaken with the Presidentof the United States -Barack Obama.

And while you may notpersonally agree withPresident Obama'spolicies, please berespectful of the office heholds. Decorum must beobserved at all times!

The additional information also allegedly includes a list of rules on how to behave. In reality this is a cruel joke. Teams will be escorted to a tacky tourist shop where their picture will be taken and digitally inserted into a photo with the president.

"I'm a pretty big republican", but Max wows to respect the office and behave

The moms get a bit too excited and ask their driver to take them to 1100 Pennsylvania, the White House. Once at the White house they don't find any race markers and eventually they realize they are in the wrong place (the White House is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).

The hockey players also ask to be taken to the White House, but once in the cab they point out that they need to go to 1100, not 1600.

Once teams receive their pictures they turn them over and find their next clue.

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Find the marked car near the paddleboatdock at the Tidal Basin. Knock on the rearpassenger window three times and you willreceive a briefcase with your next clue.

Teams reach the marked car by the Tidal Basin in the following order: 1(+0) Max & Katie 2(+0) Bates & Anthony, a minute or so after #1 3(+0) Mona & Beth, as team #1 leaves

The briefcase contains a roadblock clue: "Who's ready for some covert ops?". The extra info reads:

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ROAD BLOCK

Search for a "spy" carryinga briefcase identical toyours. Use this password:

"The cherry blossoms arebeautiful here in April."

If you have found the rightspy, they will respond with:

"I will have to bring mymother next spring."

They will exchange theirbriefcase for yours, alongwith the "key" to open it.Then return to your partnerand open the briefcase.

This task is a switchback from season 8.

There are 50 "spies" walking around the Tidal Basin. Each conspicuously dressed in a black coat and sunglasses. Each team has a unique set of passwords. This means that there is exactly one correct agent out there for each team.

The "key" top opening the briefcase is: "The key to opening the briefcase is in the order you finished in New Zealand, Indonesia and Vietnam". It seems to be the same for each team.

This task is almost completely luck based. There is a small amount of skill in that teams must remember their positions in three legs. They are allowed to use their notes, which all remaining teams had taken, so the memory part of this task is very easy.

Max & Katie get the password "Where can I get a good half-smoked with chili?". The expected response is "I've heard there's a great place on U Street".

Bates & Anthony get the password "I did not dress warm enough for this weather". The expected response is "Perhaps you'd like to borrow by gloves".

Mona & Beth get the password "The cherry blossoms are beautiful here in April." The expected response is "I will have to bring my mother next spring."

"He'd better be running his butt off", Katie wants Max to hurry (and he is hurrying) "I could kiss you on the lips right now", Beth is very relieved when she finally finds the right agent

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+1)

Bates* & Anthony

(6-6)

2(+1)

Mona & Beth*

(6-7)

3(-2)

Max* & Katie

(7-6)

A couple of seconds after #2

Route info: "Make your way to the home of the Nats". Teams must now make their way to the National stadium where the next clue sits in a clue box by an entrance.

"Oh, we ran right by it, once again par for the course", Mona & Beth have trouble finding the clue box again

In a high-flying game ofcatch, soar like an eagleacross the home field ofthe WashingtonNationals and throw abaseball to your partneron the diamond below.

Once you have caughtthe ball from yourpartner, toss it to thepitcher on the mound,he will pitch to thebatter at home plate,who will then hit it intothe outfield. Retrieve thatball for your next clue.

One team member will be suspended in a zip line above the field. The other will be dressed as a giant baseball. The flying team member must then throw a baseball to their partner on the ground, who must catch it. If they drop the ball, or miss it completely, they must reset and try again.

The soaring team members are: Anthony, Katie and Mona

Catching the baseball is a lot harder than it sounds. The costume is unwieldy and the helmet they wear limits their field of vision a lot. Luckily for teams the reset is fairly quick. They just use a rope to drag back the zip line partner and they are good to go again.

"Oh my god, you suck at baseball", Katie when Max misses yet again "This is so cool. I'm on the Nationals field, in the most ridiculous outfit on the planet", Beth

The hockey brothers seem to complete this task pretty quickly on their second shown attempt. Max & Katie struggles a little and Mona & Beth struggles a lot. The latter finally catches the ball on the 17th attempt.

Teams complete this task in he following order: 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, before #2 has even arrived 2(+0) Max & Katie, just as #3 is about to start the task 3(+0) Mona & Beth

Route info: "You made your way around the globe. Where did you go?". The setup for this task is one big ball pit which contains about 1500 inflated earth globes. Most globes have one specific country highlighted in red. The task is to find globes with the 10 countries they have visited and place them in the correct order. Once they have done this another globe will open and reveal their next clue.

"It was like I was 10 years old again", Anthony has memories of ball pits "If we had to find these countries before this race, there's no way", Bates has learned something on the race "Well, this is a frigging nightmare", Katie has just jumped into the ball pit

The editing makes it seem as if Mona & Beth arrive just after Max & Katie. But it feels like Max & Katie had been there for a while. In any case Max & Katie complete the task way ahead of the moms.

Team complete this task in the following order: 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, before #2 even has arrived 2(+0) Max & Katie 3(+0) Mona & Beth

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ROUTE INFO

This is it! The finish line!

Make your way to thehome of the firstPresident!

Go! Go! Go!

The first president was of course Washington and he lived at Mt Vernon. This is a well known fact and all cab drivers seem to know this.

"I honestly can't even talk right now 'cause I'm so nervous that we're not going to the right place", Bates can smell the finish line "The rest of my hair may fall off or turn gray in the next five minutes", Bates again

"Bates & Anthony, 5 continents, 10 countries and more than 30,000 miles", Phil "We're still married and we made it around the world", Katie is fairly happy despite being #2 "It has been life changing. We have done so many cool things and met so many fabulous people", Mona